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9.24.2011

Almost There!

I cannot type one word that describes how magnificent my God is! Any word falls incredibly short of His amazing-ness.
Two more bills have been crossed off our list - another credit card bill and a jewelry company.

I am sharing our journey because I know there are plenty of people who are in our situation - you want to be debt-free but it seems like there is no way to reach that goal. Finances are funny and you can barely afford to pay your rent/mortgage and buy food for the house. The phone calls from bill collectors are a part of your daily routine now and ignoring the calls gets easier and easier - but it still leaves you uneasy. As your credit score plummets, your apathy increases, but the hope of getting it back on track never dies.

Amidst all this, one thing is true - This world & the things of it are temporary while God and the things we do for Him will last forever.

I say this to put a perspective on things. We can put our trust in a God who is sovereign and who works everything our for the good of those who love Him. Following biblical principles about debt will get you to the place where God wants you to be. (What principles? Ok, I will blog about them in another post. In the meantime, visit christianpf.com. This is a great place to start if you're serious about getting your finances straight.)

Now to the awesome story of how God is carrying us through this debt-free journey:

Since we decided that I should stay at home with our little people, I have realized that no one really cares about my credit score (except me). With this in mind, I am willing to take certain hits to my score right now in order to improve it later. 7 years is the magic number for credit reports and we have that time on our side.

Because of this, I was willing to settle on this credit card bill that was in my name. The settlement amount was pretty much half of what was owed. I thought it would be higher so that was exciting.

In order to pay this settlement, I borrowed money from my IRA, which I DO NOT recommend UNLESS you are an extremely disciplined person. First, I talked through this decision thoroughly with our financial advisor. The only reason this route worked for us is because eliminating this one bill is HUGE to us being debt-free. This was the biggest debt we owed. I will not borrow from the IRA again as it is there for the future and that's it. There are also penalties that come with taking money out of an IRA early. I want to share what God is doing for us; He could work out your situation in a total different way - He's that amazing! *wink*

I was not willing to settle on the other bill because it was in my husband's name. We are focusing on getting his credit in shape as he is the source of our family's income. In speaking with the company, we explained that we are doing our best to pay them during the hardship that we are experiencing. They said they were willing to take a lower amount to satisfy our account. I told them, I'd rather pay what we owe because settling the account wasn't an option. She then explained that it would not be a settlement; They would take the lesser amount, but report the account as paid in full. Huh? I had to double and triple check with her so I could be sure of what I was hearing. What company does that? I have never heard of that happening, but hey, God is on our side. So we agreed on an amount and then she asks me to hold. I'm thinking that maybe this deal was too good to be true - that she'd come back with an apology and a new agreement. When she does come back, she explains how they sent us mail with another figure, but the mail was returned. The amount in the letter was significantly less than what we had just agreed upon so we'll go with that even lower number! WHAT! By now, I'm praising the Lord and the lady on the phone is like, "Ooookay."

So that's our story for now. I will keep reporting until the day when I can say that we totally debt-free - owing no money to no man!

Throughout this journey, the point that cannot be missed is that God is faithful. When we are OBEDIENT to HIS WORD and HIS COMMANDS, He is faithful to work everything out. Please know that our goal to be debt-free is to glorify God. We want to be good stewards of everything He has given us. It was never His intention for us to be "burdened" by debt. His yoke is easy & His burden is indeed light!